We know this because in the Archives are stored the Newcastle Chamberlains’ accounts for the years 1508 until 1835.

The entry we looked at read…”bill of charges for the wiches for 2 weekes ending the 23th (sic) of August 1650 and other charges for executing the prisoners” was £15 19s 2d.

The Chamberlain was the 16th century equivalent of the City Treasurer. It was his job to account for all the City’s expenditure. Thankfully today’s City Treasurer does not have to account for witch trials.

Lask week Christina, one of the Archives Conservators, was cleaning and stabilising once of the volumes so that the fascinating information they contain can be accessed more easily by researchers and historians. Here are some pictures of her at work.

Using the shaving brush to remove dust and loose dirt

Tools of the trade! A clean shaving brush used for dusting and pieces of the conservation sponge before and after showing how much dirt has been removed

March 26, 1649 – WITCH TRIALS (Newcastle) Twenty-seven out of 30 suspected witches are found guilty of witchcraft at Newcastle. Fourteen are executed on the Town Moor. One man is executed for being a wizard. Newcastle Council had suggested all witches be brought to trial, so magistrates sent for a Scottish witch finder called Cuthbert Nicholson. The Newcastle bellman invited people to report suspected witches. Thirty women were brought to the Town Hall and stripped to their waist. Nicholson pushed a pin under their clothes to pierce their skin. If they did not bleed they were declared witches. Nicholson was later executed in Scotland for trickery. He confessed responsibility for the deaths of 220 women. He was paid 20 shillings for each witch captured.